Change Management is essential for successful construction project management. Actual or perceived changes are sometimes an inevitable source of disruption for many construction projects that, if not handled properly, can lead to disputes and claims. A major element of the Change Management process is ensuring the accuracy and integrity of plans and specifications and any other contract documents that comprise the project scope of work. It may be fairly straightforward at the outset of a project, but can become challenging when changes are made during the course of the work.
Every Change begins with a "Potential Change" to begin managing all aspects of the Change, including the basic scope, new or revised drawings, requesting pricing from Vendors, estimating the cost of the change, and issuing a change proposal.
Once the Potential Change process is completed and the Change has been proposed to the client, you can create an AIA-style Change Order. Once that has been signed and executed by all parties, the Change is Authorized.
This Wiki outlines the Potential Change Order and Authorization processes. If you have not already created the Potential Change, click here to view the entry for Potential Changes.
Potential Change: the Scope Change as it exists in RedTeam. The entire process of gathering backup documentation and putting together a Price for the Change happens while it is a Potential Change in RedTeam.
Potential Change Order: the unauthorized AIA-style Change Order document. It remains a Potential Change Order until the document is signed and executed by all parties.
Authorized Change Order: the authorized AIA-style Change Order document. When the Potential Change Order has been signed and approved you may upload it to RedTeam and authorize the Change Order.
1. Prepare and Send a Potential Change Order
In RedTeam, you can generate AIA-style Change Orders to send to your Customer. These Change Orders can combine multiple Potential Changes into one document. It is called a "Potential" Change Order in RedTeam until it is Authorized, at which time it is no longer "potential" because it has been signed and executed.
When creating a new Potential Change Order, you will have the option to include any potential changes that are currently in Proposal status, and that have not already been linked to a previous Potential Change Order. You can view all the Potential Changes for a given Project inside the Contract tab. The status column will indicate if the Potential Change is in Proposal status. In addition, Potential Changes in Proposal status display a checkbox next to them, so you can easily select multiple to be included in a Potential Change Order.
Steps:
In the Contract tab, under the "Potential Customer Changes" heading, identify the Potential Changes to be included in the Change Order
Verify that the Potential Changes to be included are in the Proposal status
Check the boxes next to the Potential Changes to be included
Click "Create Potential Change Order"
Enter a number for the PCO, and fill in the rest of the required information
Update the Signatories if needed
Verify your Potential Changes are to be included in this PCO
Click "Save"
From the Confirmation Message window, click "View" to open and review the Potential Change Order before you Commit and send it to the Customer.
2. Authorize a Change Order
Once you have created, issued, and received approval for your Potential Change Order, you can convert the information from the Request to an official, Authorized Change Order. Doing this will automatically authorize the Potential Changes associated with the Potential Change Order. Additionally, you will have the option to modify the Schedule of Values and attach the signed and executed Request.
Steps:
Click the tools icon for the Change you want to Authorize
Select "Authorize" from the tool options
3. Navigate through steps 1-4 and enter all required information for the Change Order
4. Save Change Order.